President Donald Trump said levying an additional tax on millionaires would be “disruptive” to the U.S. economy.
“I think it would be very disruptive because a lot of the millionaires would leave the country,” Trump said from the Oval Office on Wednesday. “In the old days, they left the states. They go from one state to the other. Now, with transportation so quick and so easy, they leave countries. You lose a lot of money if you do that.”
Trump’s statement reveals he may no longer be receptive to returning the marginal tax to 39.6%, where it was before he signed his 2017 tax cuts into law. Earlier this month, Trump sat with Senate Budget Committee Republicans, duirng which the tax hike was discussed. But with his new comments, his apparent openness to a new tax on millionaires appears to have faded.
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Cabinet members, advisers, and congressional Republicans have had differing approaches about putting millionaires in a higher tax bracket. Vice President JD Vance and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought have reportedly shown support for the higher tax on millionaires, while House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have expressed objections.
As Trump has raised concerns of losing millionaires through a tax hike, he is looking to entice new millionaires from overseas to come into the United States through his $5 million “gold card” program, which would be a pathway to citizenship for wealthy immigrants.